Yin And Yang
by haunteddemondragon
Summary: Fire Lord Ozai has won. Shadowbenders reign supreme. Three teenagers are sent back in time to better their future. This is their story.


_Sunset. _

_Crimson sunrays glared from the glassy facades of skyscrapers and signal towers in downtown Omashu. _

_While evening advanced, pedestrians hurried to and fro like ants. _

_Iaten watched them from his lofty position on top of the Palace skyscraper. The wind kicked at his brown hair and whistled through his dark clothes. He tried to stifle a yawn with a pale hand. _

_"Hey, Sister." _

_"What do you want?" The black haired woman was leaning against a storage container. She held a dagger in one hand and picked her nails with the other. _

_"What are we doing here?" The Sister glared. _

_"You forgot already?" The seven-year old shrugged. _

_"Nope." He glanced back at the people with gray eyes. "But I am bored." _

_"Then find something to do." Iaten spun around. _

_"Like what?" Veins pulsed in the Sister's temple. _

_"Why you were cloned after the last Avatar, I'll never know." _

_Iaten crossed his arms. "If I was a real clone, I'd have blue arrows." After a pause, he added in a hopeful tone. "Can I get some? Please?" _

_Her face alone told the answer. He sighed. "Fine. Be that way." Turning back to see the 2,000 feet drop, his face held a smirk. He waited a few minutes for her to become obsessed with her task again. Then he raised a hand in front of him. _

_His eyes darkened into pure obsidian and his shadow rippled as though caught in a high wind. Flicking his wrist, the shadow rose from the floor and stood shoulder height and paper-thin. The Sister looked up at the last second. "No! I forbid you to bring that animal here!" _

_Too late. The shadow issued a fierce howl and suddenly morphed into a wolf. Its entire body flickered shadow except for its head and paws, which were solid black muscle and fur. Yawning, it stretched and revealed serrated canines and a blue tongue. Once his eyes returned to normal, Iaten crouched down and petted it. "Isn't he beautiful?" The child grinned. "I thought since the Avatar had a spirit animal, why can't I?" He scratched at the wolf's shadow mane. "I decided to call him, Demar." _

_The Sister was as far pressed into the storage unit as she could be. She had a fear of anything canine. "You know you are not allowed to summon anything from the Shadow Realm." _

_"But it's still a part of the spirit world." Demar's eyes gleamed a cold yellow. The Sister suddenly got the feeling the creature could understand every word she said. _

_"Once Head Brother arrives, he needs to go." _

_Iaten's spirits sank. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I know." _

_--------------------------------_

A young male teenager slept in a metal chamber. Once or twice, his eyelids twitched to open but the machine urged the brain to sink deeper into sleep.

Two figures stared at his flaccid form.

"Just what is that thing?" One voice curiously whispered.

"We call it a cat's cradle." The other voice answered, and a frosty wind swept down the other's spine. "It's used for punishing those who disobey the Purpose."

"Ah." A few minutes passed in silence. "So, uh, what does it do?"

"The cat's cradle forces the subject to relive their most painful memories."

The first figure nodded. "Sounds pretty effective."

The second form held the other's gaze without blinking. "Oh, it is. It is."

-------------------------

_The sun winked one last time and then descended into the dark abyss. Blessed night fell. _

_Iaten unconsciously shivered. "Can we go home now?" _

_The Sister looked as though as she too wanted to leave. But her resolve would not allow it. "I am waiting for Head Brother. Be patient." _

_The boy breathed out. "How long until he gets here?" _

_"Whenever he does." _

_He resisted the urge to scoff and climbed over the protective wall that encircled the skyscraper landing. Carefully sitting on the cold concrete, he gazed at the city. Demar soundlessly leapt up and sat beside him. _

_Atop the Palace skyscraper, one could view the city for miles. Street lamps beckoned and winked to those traversing the busy lanes. Cars honked and revved their elemental automobiles. The noise blistered the otherwise quiet air_. _Sighing, the Shadow child leaned a hand against his head while the other stayed by his side. "This is sssoooo boring..." _

_Small tendrils of shadow suddenly leapt up and wrapped around his wrist. Iaten screamed and nearly fell off the wall. He managed to grab it just in time. The shadows pulled him back up. "Demar!" The boy hissed in agitation and willed his heart to slow down. Demar's mane had extended and grabbed hold of Iaten's wrist. The wolf now let him go. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Iaten climbed back over the wall and collapsed on the landing. He then rubbed his hand. _

_Shadows always felt weird if felt. Some were hard as stone, others light as air or whispery like fire, and then some cool and rippling like water. Demar's felt as though they were charged with some sort of electricity. His body still quivered slightly from the charge. Or it also could be the adrenaline pumping through his bloodstream. Either way. _

_The Sister smirked at him. "Still bored?" _

_Iaten merely kept his gaze on the floor. "Where's Head Brother?" _

_"Here." And the boy was jerked to his feet. The man had materialized from the shadow cast by the concrete wall. He let go of Iaten's hood. "Send the wolf back." _

_"Yes, sir." The child breathed and whistled for his friend. "Here, boy. Come here. Time to go home." Demar leapt off of the structure and dissolved into a boy's shadow again. It clung firmly to Iaten's heels. _

_"I see you found a link to the Shadow Realm." Head Brother's ghostly face shone white in the city's lights. "I'll deal with you later." He turned to face the Sister. "Are the preparations complete?" _

_The woman smoothly acknowledged her founder. "All done according to your will, Head Brother. The boy is ready to start." _

_"Is he really?" Head Brother's pure black orbs gleamed. "Then let's begin." _

_----------------------------------_

The young male was trapped. Trapped inside his own mind. His anguished pleas somehow overwhelmed the system and his throat worked.

"_Please_." The cat's cradle charged up its circuits and the male fell deeper into sleep. Some minutes later, the voice rose from him again. "_I don't want to remember_." The cords sizzled with blue electricity and the pads on his forehead signaled REM brain waves. The weight on his mind grew heavier. Helpless, he drifted off again.

The first figure scratched his chin. "Quite a strong little fellow you got there."

"Iaten is one of our strongest Shadowbenders." Head Brother narrowed his pitch eyes. "Sometimes too strong."

"What did he do for this?"

"He disobeyed me."

----------------------------

_The haunted boy peered into the darkness. "Is this it?" _

_"Yes." The Head Brother hissed. The shadows around him suddenly sponged off from their designated posts. "This is where our prey's spawn are being kept safe." _

_A discrepant ten-story building cast its rancid gloom upon the trio. Sandstone bricks covered the structure in scattered groups. Chipped plaster and clay held the rest of the place together. The alleyway choked itself with rock bins full of rotting garbage and the occasional dead corpse. Once the guards of this dwelling, they no longer existed. _

_The possessed boy poked one with his toe. _

_"I killed him too quickly. Next time, I'll make them beg for life and then take it away." _

_"There are plenty more to succumb." The Sister daintily licked a bloody finger. Deep circles darkened her blue eyes. "Shall we give them a moment longer to wish for death?" _

_"No." Head Brother stepped forward and placed a hand against the crumbling door. "They already are." The door blasted inward from a blast of shadowkinesis. Leering, he took a step back. "Ladies first." _

_A shiver crept down Iaten's spine. Then another frosted his skull. Two more rendered his legs and arms encased in snow. He gasped for air as he slid to his side. _

_Head Brother calmly watched him shuddering. "Your hypnosis is wearing off." Ignoring the screams from the building, his jet eyes stayed focused on the cringing boy. "Keep still and I will revert this state." _

_"No." With all of his willpower, Iaten glared at the man. His haunted look began to fade. "What is wrong with you!" A particularly sharp chill iced his veins and he quickly curled into a fetal position. _

_"It serves the Purpose." Head Brother's hand snapped out and grasped the child's hair. At first, Iaten struggled to look away but the man's grip expertly denied him the chance. So, in the end, both held eye contact. Around them, the world slowly dissolved into a spectrum of gray and black. As his power grew, various shadow symbols emerged in Head Brother's luminescent orbs. _

_He waited. _

_The child fought to keep the evil from entering him but he was already ensnared. The Darkened Shadow consumed him. The haunted look returned, along with a disregard for all living things. _

_Head Brother's voice reached him in a hazy fog. "What is your purpose?" _

_The child had stopped shivering. Now the blistering red heat of anger warmed him feverishly. "To obey." _

_"Then rise, Shadowbender, and destroy." _

_---------------------------_

"Let me tell you something." The homeless man rolled the leaf between his fingers and lit it with his only thumb. "These Shadowbenders." He inhaled and exhaled deeply, the smoke curling around his ears. "They're freaks of nature, that's what."

"You ever seen one?" The dirty woman had waited patiently and now snatched the leaf from him. She inhaled until the smoke reached the bottom of her lungs and coughed it back up.

Used to his smokes being stolen, the man held up the stump of his arm. "I fought one." His fellow junkies soaked him in admiring gazes. "Yeah. Now, where was I?" He closed his watery eyes and thought for a moment. "Ah, yes. Yeah, anyway, Shadowbenders. They use shadows as their element."

"Man, I couldn't figure that one out!" The group roared with laughter.

"Shut up, you bald buzzard. So, they've been around for centuries, hiding in the darkness. Assassins, murderers, it's in their blood to kill. But now they've reached a whole new level."

"They help people?" One teenager slurred and his jug of alcohol was promptly stolen.

"Naw." The man paused for effect. "They kill _children_."

One old gizzard choked on his chewing leaf. "Say what?"

"You heard me, old man. That's what I said. Children. Heh, forget teenagers. They want the little ones now. And not just the preteens, you know, ten to twelve and such. Younger. Much younger." He leaned his head forward. "You guys hear about the Safehouse Massacre?"

Some were puzzled. Others shivered.

"That's what I thought. That whole place was filled with kids."

"Was?" A small boy shuddered and his mother thumped his back.

"Keep your mouth closed."

"Back to the story. So, one night, I think it was seven years ago, this place was set aside to keep some families safe from the Shadowbenders. I saw it once before the attack. That hole wasn't fit to be burnt down. I guess they didn't want it to be conspicuous. But it didn't work. Two weeks after the families moved in, it was attacked."

Silence greeted these words.

The man forced his throat to work. "I was two blocks away. I could hear everything."

-----------------------------

_"Mama! Mama!!" _

_"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!" _

_"**NOT MY BABY! NOT MY BABY!**"_

_Iaten viewed the slaughter with a smile. It was beautiful. _

_Head Brother and the Sister stood in the middle of the safehouse. Their fluid movements defined power with an unholy grace. _

_The doors and windows were blocked with shields of obsidian darkness. _

_Everything else was red. _

_Or about to become red. _

_A shadow leapt up and wrapped itself around a pregnant woman. Twisting with a spiral motion, it sawed the woman's body into fragmented clumps. Her eyes popping, her small daughter watched in horror. _

_Across the room, a small boy's head stared lifelessly at the ceiling. His body lay a few feet away. Next to the little corpse, the father sobbed on his knees. _

_Backed against a corner, one family of Waterbenders defended themselves against the onslaught of the shadows. _

_Iaten narrowed his eyes. They were doing too good. _

_A young female launched some water from the main pipeline and divided it amongst her family members. Two combined the Octopus and Water Whip to deter some of the Shadowbenders' fury. Three others, obviously more advanced in their bending, were freezing shadows and breaking them. The ice shards fell to the ground and glistened darkly. _

_Iaten held his breath. _

_To break a shadow. _

_He glanced back at the Shadowbenders. _

_Pain briefly distorted their features and then it was gone. _

_The Waterbenders were good. Almost good enough to let live. _

_He meandered toward the family. _

_"Just a little more! See? We're getting them! How's the wall coming?" _

_"It's weakening! I can feel it!" The youngest son continued to bend against the sandstone exterior, pushing the water through the rock. Sandy slush flowed down his fingers. "It's giving!" _

_"Here." Iaten placed his hands on the wall. "Let me help you." _

_------------------------------------_

"There was one family that almost made it. Waterbenders, pretty good ones too. Straight from the North Pole. They managed to break through the wall and run down the alley. I think there were six of them. Granddad, father, mother, two daughters, and one son. But someone else came with them. Guess who?"

One crone grabbed a glass jar and prepared to throw it. "Just tell the story!"

The man discretely coughed in his one hand. "Sheesh. One Shadowbender."

"How in this screwed up world did they allow a Shadowbender to go with them?" Other murmurs of ascent followed.

"Here's the thing. They didn't know he was one." The man leaned back. "Yeah. An eyewitness, she ain't alive anymore, told me she saw him help them out." With the smooth movements of habit, the man lit another leaf.

Heavy silence followed.

Someone made a noise in her throat.

The man looked up. "Oh. You still wanted to hear it?"

The sound of tinkling glass sang sweetly in the cold air.

The shards brightened dangerously on the ground.

The man quickly spoke after checking his vital areas. "So, uh, there they are. Seven of them sprinting for their lives."

-----------------------------

_The family finally collapsed near the inner wall. _

_Not in the least bit winded, Iaten calmly sat with them. _

_"Is everyone here? Everyone? Thank the spirits." The mother sighed in relief. _

_"Dad, how are you doing?" The father struggled to keep his fraternal parent propped up with his back to the wall. _

_"Hard to breathe." The old man's face shone red in the dim light. "But heart keeps thumping." _

_The woman's maternal instincts kicked into gear. "Anyone hurt?" _

_"I got cut." The oldest daughter winced and her leg shivered on its own. "By a shadow." _

_"Where?" The daughter's thigh had a livid wound gaping wide. The skin around it had already swelled and bruised. _

_Iaten's Shadow Sight could see it. For a moment, something in him hurt too. _

_"I'm sure I can heal that. I'm positive." The mother reached for her gourd only to find it empty. She glanced around. "Who still has water in their gourd?" _

_"If no one else is wounded," the father handed her his. "We should start moving. We need to leave the city." _

_The other daughter whimpered. "The Shadowbenders are everywhere." _

_"Not in the South Pole. Not during the Eternal Sunlight." _

_Iaten's body burned. He furiously shook while his hands formed two fists. _

_He wanted to rip their throats open. _

_"Say, we never thanked you for helping us back there." All eyes turned to the Shadow boy. _

_Blue eyes versus gray eyes. _

_Iaten gave a smile that morphed into a snarl. _

_"You okay, boy?" The old man inquired. "You don't need to let it get to your head." _

_"Leave him alone, grandfather. We don't know what happened to him." The youngest son gave Iaten a thumbs up. _

_"I've never seen you before." The oldest daughter murmured. She scrutinized him closely. "Were you with the new arrivals that came yesterday?" _

_"No." His temples pounded. He forced himself to keep still. _

_The Shadow kept whispering. _

**_Kill them all. Kill them all. Now. Do it now. Before sunrise. Do it now. Kill them all. _**

_His hand rose of its own accord. He forced it back down. _

_"How long until sunrise?" Sweat ran into his eyes. He blinked it away. _

_"Maybe four hours. Why?" _

_"I need to go." The Shadow began to get a little ticked. _

_"Whoa. Wait a sec." The mother extended her hand. "There're some crazy Shadowbenders out there. You need some protection." _

_Now the Shadow raged inside him. He could barely get to his feet. "I'll be fine." _

_"Iaten. So this is where you fled to." _

_All heads turned. _

_Head Brother was leaning against the shabby building. The Sister loomed behind him. _

_Time stilled for a split second. _

_"Run!" The father flung ice shard after ice shard at them. Everyone was suddenly dry. Their sweat was the main source of ammunition. _

_The two Shadowbenders raised shields and waited. _

_Iaten glanced over his shoulder. _

_The sight of the father disappeared as they turned the corner. His death cries echoed in the night air. _

_One daughter sobbed. The others were grim faced. _

_"The outer wall! Run to the outer wall!" The widow's voice was hoarse. _

_On they continued through the streets, many times stumbling from exhaustion and lack of light. _

_The Shadow child could see fine. _

_The outer wall greeted them with its stony sides. Tall awnings allowed pedestrians and cars to venture through. The subway was no longer the only way to cross over. _

_They were a few feet away. _

_A few feet further and they would have been free to leave the city. _

_The Shadow would not allow that. _

_-------------------------------_

"The kid slaughtered them. He was about six years old. Naw, make that seven, but he did it all right. Whatever could be sliced and bled, it did that night. But here's the odd thing." The man stopped.

The crone's hand rose in warning.

"He cried when he finished with them."

"He did what?"

"Yep. Down on his knees. Hands to his face. Wailing his lungs out. Like he was genuinely sorry he did it."

"That's platypus bear crap."

"Maybe. But that's what the eyewitness said to me. And I never knew her to lie before." The man stroked his chin. "Makes me wonder." Everyone watched him as he lit another leaf. "If they like to kill so much, why do they cry? What is wrong with them?"

--------------------------------

The cat's cradle hissed as the power stopped running through its circuits. Iaten snapped his eyes open and stared at nothing.

"I'm not a murderer..."

The straps binding him to the bed unlocked themselves and slid back into their holders. The young teen stayed as he was.

_"I'm not a murderer..." _

"Iaten." The fourteen-year old slowly turned his head like a zombie. Head Brother stood in the doorway, his body hidden by his voluminous cloak. "How do you feel?"

The other couldn't answer. He was saddened by the sight of his leader.

Head Brother clasped his hands underneath his cloak.

"The Purpose is to create a single brotherhood among those less than worthy. Its covenant speaks of equality, its rules bound by the law of power. You overstepped the Purpose, Iaten."

Iaten's voice cracked. "**_I'm not a murderer!_**"

"You can only lie to yourself for so long, clone of the Avatar Aang." The man made to leave. "By the way." He glanced back at the teenager. "Happy Birthday." The dark corridor welcomed the demon and he laughed as he descended.

Iaten struggled not to scream. The memories racked his senses to a degree never before experienced. But something stopped them.

Sunrise.


End file.
